Hello

22 February 2019

Here's how it works: The Recent Releases chart brings together critical reaction to new albums from more than 50 sources worldwide. It's updated daily. Albums qualify with 5 reviews, and drop out after 6 weeks into the longer timespan charts.

The week in ADM

Michael Palmer reflects on the week's action in the ADM chart

The War On Drugs is top now. Hmm. I feel like I
could've built the suspense up a little more there. No worries.
Though this was the week that our contenders at the top had been
looking forward to. St Vincent's term of office is
up, so a new Chart Topper needs to be crowned. And it was a close
race for a minute back there. Let's take a look, shall we?

Two new entries made a decent challenge early this week. Firstly,
there was EMA. She shot out of the starting blocks
with a 10 from The Skinny, a 9 from Loud and Quiet and a handful of
8s. She forgot, though, that this is a marathon not a sprint. Well
maybe not a marathon, that sounds like a nightmare. There are races
between marathons and sprints right? Like, 1000 metres or
something. I don't know running. Anyway, our chart is like the 2000
metres or whatever. You need to start fast, stay fast, then stick
your neck out right when you cross the line. EMA started fast, but
slowed down slightly. We've yet to see if she'll stick her neck out
at the end. I've totally lost the metaphor. Whoops. At what point
did it go wrong do you think? At the bit where I said I don't
really know running? Please provide answers in the comments section
below.

The second new entry to make a push for Chart Topping success was
Todd Terje. Another strong start, three 9s and an
8 with his first four reviews. But he forgot that our Chart isn't a
sprint, it's the 700 metres. Wait, no. Not that again. What's a
metaphor for getting a 6 from The Guardian? Well, he got a 6 from
The Guardian and now his rating is 7.7. That's still pretty good,
but you've got to do better if you want to top our chart.

Our wooden spoon this week goes to none other than the Country
Legend, the Man in Black, Will Smith. No, that's not right.
Johnny Cash! That's it. A new release of
recordings from the 1980s that were shelved by the label, but
recently re-discovered by Johnny Cash's son, getting pretty mixed
reviews. A few positive ones, but most wishing someone would do
that flashy pen thing to get them to forget it. Poor Johnny. He
would've got away with it too, if it wasn't for his pesky
kid.

So is this a one-horse race? Are The War On Drugs going to sit
unchallenged at the top for weeks? Is our chart as predictable as
the Undertaker beating Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania XXX on Sunday?
In short, yup. But that's what we get for not fixing the results
beforehand, I suppose.

Elsewhere: HTRK impresses and gets a 7.6,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks confuses and gets a
6.5, Arc Iris do a 7.4, Timber
Tambre do a 7.3, White Hinterland do a
7.2, Manchester Orchestra land a 6.8, as does
S. Carey.